A SPECIAL ceremony is being held on Clacton seafront later this month to pay tribute to victims of the Holocaust.

Members of the Colchester and District Jewish Community will mark Holocaust Memorial Day at the Sunken Rose Garden on Marine Parade West.

The ceremony, which will take place on Friday, January 26, at 11am, has been held every year since 2001.

A white rose bush was planted in 2007 at the seafront site and the following year a specially-commissioned plaque was set in the ground next to the bush.

Tendring Council chairman Mark Platt will join members of the Jewish community for the memorial and has also invited residents to join him for quiet reflection. “It is an event which provides us with the chance to remember all those who lived through the horrific events of the Holocaust,” said Mr Platt.

“We normally have people from a number of religious groups come along to pay their respects with us and we hope that will happen again on January 26.”

A display remembering the Holocaust will also been put on show in the foyer of Clacton Town Hall from Monday, January 22 for one week.

The Government announced the establishment of Holocaust Memorial Day in 2000 and the first activities were held the following year.

The aim of the event is to promote awareness of how people and communities were persecuted under the Nazis. racial and social policy because they were different.

The service in Clacton will be led by Roy Fox, chairman of the Colchester Synagogue.